Patron of the Kitsune
Legendary Creature — Spirit
Fox offering (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant by sacrificing a Fox and paying the difference in mana costs between this and the sacrificed Fox. Mana cost includes color.)
Whenever a creature attacks, you may gain 1 life.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Betrayers of Kamigawa
- Price
- $1.61
- EDHREC rank
- #18442
Patron of the Kitsune drops a 5/6 vigilance body and gains you life whenever any creature attacks — not just yours. Five mana for that effect is simply too expensive when white has cheaper lifegain payoffs and better five-drops competing for the slot.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Patron of the Kitsune is a Commander card through and through — its passive triggers off all attacking creatures, a clause that's nearly useless in one-on-one formats but generates real value across three opponents swinging every turn. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but entirely unplayed; five mana for a vanilla-ish creature is not a conversation those formats are having. Commander is the only context where the trigger fires often enough to justify the cost, specifically in lifegain-matters decks where each discrete trigger counts.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.61 cheap tier
At $1.61, Patron of the Kitsune sits in budget territory with no meaningful reprint pressure pushing it lower. It's a stable bulk-rare price — you're not losing money running it, but you're also not picking up a hidden gem.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.